I’m super excited to announce that I’ll be releasing Rift, book 2 of my Dead Man Chronicles series, Tomorrow!
In celebration of the “official” release, I’ll be giving the Kindle eBook version of book 1 away for free again to generate a buzz. If you haven’t read it, then mark your calendar and be sure to let your friends know! I’ll also be offering Book 2 at a discounted rate for a short time.
The Dead Man Chronicles: RIFT – Author Q & A
Q: Do you need to have read book 1 in order to read book 2?
A: Yes. It’s a series. That’s how it works lol. You might be able to follow along, but there are subtleties right from the jump that you won’t understand unless you remember the major plot points and characters of book 1.
There are even some “not so major” events in book 1 that have huge consequences for book 2. So if you haven’t read it, now you have some catching up to do.
Q: What’s this one about? How does it Relate to book 1?
A: TDMC: Rift picks up a year after the events of TDMC: Fear. The protagonist, Derek Willows, and the original Dead Man, Howard Lance, have both stepped away from their roles as vigilante heroes.
Howard tries to focus on raising his son Jason, and Derek goes back to normal life as a reporter. But Derek can’t shake the draw of heroism. He’s been secretly training to re-assume the mantle of The Dead Man but isn’t ready skill-wise. He also doesn’t have an extremely motivating factor like he had in book 1, or the help of technology to make him more skillful than he is naturally.
By the way, Derek is also dealing with some relationship drama as a result of the book 1 revelations about his wife’s pregnancy. His relationship with his friend and ex, Gabby, also takes a turn.
Long story short, things from a year ago aren’t as resolved as Derek would like to think and new threats tied to old enemies arise and force the former heroes to act.
This all starts when the body of New Angles’ mayor is found in an Alley and it’s learned that someone dressed as the Dead Man was at the scene. This causes some tension between Derek and Howard as well.
Check out the book trailer below. It helps to shed just a little light.
Q: I like the cover, what’s the story behind it?
I want to keep the same half-and-half motif throughout the series. So in the first one, Derek is juxtaposed with the Dead Man costume he will become. In this one, the two dead men, Howard and Derek are side by side looking at the bloodied hand of the Dead Man costume they share. The title RIFT hints to the “split” between the two characters as well which the story will explain.
Q: Book 1 came out less than 6 months ago, Why the quick turnaround?
A: Several reasons really. First of all, I didn’t want to keep fans waiting too long. I was honestly surprised by the reaction the first book received and people were asking when book 2 was coming. I didn’t want them to wait an entire year. I’m a new author and I don’t have the luxury of a huge fan base waiting for my new work. I wanted to keep New Angeles fresh in people’s minds.
Also, a part of my strategy as a self-published author is to create a backlist. The more work I have, the more opportunities I have to get new fans, new revenue streams, and build my brand.
Lastly, I’d need to check my goals list for 2017, but I think “Release my first book” is what I wrote on it, but in the back of my mind I was challenging myself to do 2 this year.
It’s not like I rushed it though.
I wrote the epilogue to book 1 with part of an idea in mind for the second one, and by July it had blossomed and I had a whole outline written detail for detail. It was the smoothest a plot had ever come together for me. I thought it was going to be a breeze to write, since the story came to me so quickly, and I had the experience from book 1 fresh in my mind. I was wrong lol.
Q: What challenges did you face writing book 2?
A: This could be a blog post in itself but I’ll try to keep it brief. maybe bullet points for a few will help.
- Introducing characters and settings
- It was a challenge trying to find a balance between not describing my main characters and past events enough and giving too much info. I was thinking it’s been months and could eventually be even longer since someone read the first one, what’s too redundant and what’s assuming readers remember too much?
- Structure
- I had never written a flashback in novel form before. In screenwriting you just open a new scene INT: Jeff’s house 3 years ago…and start it up. Editing takes care of it for the most part with sound effects, a fade, a different color pallet. In Novel writing, you have to “Create ” the flashback and try to make it flow.
- Not being “too reliable” of a narrator as one of my Beta reader’s put it and not giving away too much info too soon.
- Expectations and growth
- I think with my first novel out of the way. People expected better writing from me in general, especially more “novel style” which, as a screenwriter, I hadn’t really thought much about. long story here but I learned a TON in my 3 rounds of revisions, and I’m still learning. That’s another reason I want to keep these going. I’m getting my Master’s in writing by doing, and that’s awesome.
Q: Why should someone who read book 1 Read book 2?
A: Well hopefully they are curious about what will become of Derek, Jason, Lauren, the Viper, Howard etc. I answer these questions but also take you on what I hope is a totally unexpected journey with these characters.
I even expand the role of some of the more minor characters from book 1 which adds a new dynamic to the relationships in this novel.
Q: Anything you just really want to say?
A: I’m so excited for you to take another trip to New Angeles. It’s a guaranteed thrill ride! I appreciate your support so much. it’s not easy putting creative work out, and it’s even more difficult to get it seen.
If you like my work please review it on Amazon. That helps so much with getting the book seen by more people and with building my career as an author. Oh, and of course,…
Great things are on the horizon for you. Take care!
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